Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
GOSHEN - When healthy, Warsaw's boys tennis team has not been able to beat Goshen in recent years. The Redskins have beaten the Tigers in 10 of the last 11 dual matches.
Warsaw was not healthy for Wednesday's match at Goshen.
The Redskins continued their domination of Warsaw with a 3-2 win. The Redskins upped their record to 13-0 overall and 6-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference. Warsaw fell to 8-3 overall and 3-2 in the NLC.
Brad Simmons, who was one of Warsaw's No. 1 doubles players, played his last match Sept. 16. The 16-year-old sophomore is out for the season after fracturing his spine.
Matt Krizmanich, who had been playing No. 2 singles, has missed time because of a knee injury. Now Krizmanich plays No. 1 doubles. Travis Yoder, who had been playing No. 2 doubles, has shin splints. He played in the junior varsity lineup against Goshen.
"It's been a challenging season," Lewis said.
Facing Goshen presented a challenge on top of a challenge.
Goshen's Michael Weaver beat Dan Benyousky 6-2, 6-3 in the No. 1 singles match, and Josh Kurtz beat Steve Slaughter 6-0, 6-3 in the No. 2 singles match. Bradd Weddell and Lonnie Newburn beat Warsaw's David Honneffer and Jon Scott 6-2, 7-5 in the No. 2 doubles match.
Warsaw's two wins came at No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles.
Eric Keller beat Ashe Abebe 6-0, 6-2, and Matt Krizmanich and Eric Grossnickle beat Matt Shively and David Harris 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
To Lewis, the key match was No. 2 singles, where Kurtz handled Slaughter 6-0, 6-3.
"I thought their No. 2 singles guy played the best match I have ever seen him play," Lewis said. "He couldn't miss. Going in, I thought Steve had an excellent chance to win."
Realizing his team was hand icapped with injuries, Lewis chose not to try to rally his team with a fiery speech. He thought this would only put added pressure on his team.
"I told them just to play one point at a time," he said, "to try to stay relaxed."
Lewis was thrilled Warsaw played Goshen to a 3-2 decision.
"We could have easily lost to Goshen 5-0," he said. "Even with our injuries, we came out 3-2. We didn't come away with a win, but our kids came out and played their hearts out.
"It we had our players, our regular lineup, it could have been a different story."
Though Goshen is 6-0 in NLC dual matches, the Redskins have not clinched the NLC title. The NLC Tournament is played this weekend, and this figures into the final overall standings.
GOSHEN 3, WARSAW 2
Singles
No. 1- Michael Weaver (G) def. Dan Benyousky 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 -ÊJosh Kurtz (G) def. Steve Slaughter 6-0, 6-3
No. 3 - Eric Keller (W) def. Ashe Abebe 6-0, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 -ÊMatt Krizmanich/Eric Grossnickle (W) def. Matt Shively/David Harris 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
No. 2 - Bradd Weddell/Lonnie Newburn (G) def. David Honneffer/Jon Scott 6-2, 7-5
Records -ÊGoshen 13-0, 6-0 NLC; Warsaw 8-3, 3-2 NLC
JV: WARSAW 5, GOSHEN 0
Singles
No. 1 -ÊRyan Dill def. Jeff McCaughlin 6-3, 6-1
No. 2 - Jason Ladd def. Alex Yoder 8-6
No. 3 -ÊBranden Conley def. Austin Shrock 8-6
Doubles
No. 1 - Travis Yoder/Colin Nicol def. Jordan Sherman/Mark Sauer 7-5
No. 2 - Kenneth Honneffer/Sherwin Bajas won 8-1 (Goshen names not available)
